At Smith Journal we welcome submissions, but will not be able to reply or feed back unless an idea is of interest. For this we apologise in advance.

contributor guidelines

Smith Journal is a quarterly publication that takes unexpected, interesting, funny and sometimes complicated stories and tells them the way you would to a bunch of friends at the pub. It's a friendly guide to all things creative, intriguing, genuine and funny – full of stories, people, adventures and interesting conversations. At a time when everything seems like it’s speeding up, Smith is a call to slow down. It’s about remembering, reviving and revamping forgotten traditions, skills and technologies. And backpedalling just enough to appreciate the good stuff in life. Like our readers, we’re not particularly obsessed with being the coolest, the biggest or the first in line. But we are interested in making things that last.

Alongside cracking photography from around the world, Smith Journal features offbeat stories, nostalgic pieces about icons of the past, nerdy pieces about new technology and real-life interviews with people young and old who inspire us in word and deed.

Smith Journal features are more than your average magazine articles – if you can imagine your idea running in another publication, then you will have to re-think your pitch. Our readers expect the unexpected every time they open a new issue.

Our tone is genuine, straight up and funny if at all possible. We write what we know. We are inclusive and respect our readers; we don't mock them. Although we aim to always write what's on our minds we try not to be smarmy pricks. We appreciate people with strong, concise opinions, even if we don't necessarily agree with them. We rate stories that are well researched and relatable. Our best writing is unflinchingly honest, irreverent and stylish but never too-cool-for-school. It should welcome the reader in rather than shut them out.

Photographers and illustrators are also expected to be a little out of left-field, providing interesting, eye-catching, smart pictures that readers want to stop and ponder over. Smith's aesthetic is hands-on and earthy. We like grainy and timeworn. One of the magazine’s greatest strengths is its individual design, and our best photographic contributors know what makes a picture ‘Smith’ and what doesn’t.

For all contributors, both finished work and pitches are welcome. If sending only a pitch, please include clippings and/or portfolio samples of previous work. Read the mag first so you get an idea of style and the ground we cover. Note that we work between three and four months in advance of our on-sale dates.

writers

Email your submissions here with all your relevant details in the form of a standard .doc or .rtf attachment.

photographers, illustrators & OTHER CREATIVE PEOPLE

Email your submissions here with all your relevant details in the form of lo-res jpeg attachments, pdfs and/or links to websites, flickr or similar file-sharing sites. (Please no attachments over 2mb.)